The two-day conference began with the inaugural Market Place Forum, which featured keynote remarks and case-studies on the power of Asian spend among consumers and investors. Keynote presentations were made by Tom Doctoroff, author and chief cultural insights officer at Prophet, kicked the day off with an engaging presentation on the Chinese consumer needs and how they differ from other parts of Asia and the West, and Vivek Sankaran, president and COO of Frito-Lay North America, who discussed how an American brand found its place globally by leaning on diversity. Attendees also heard from panelists that have successfully led strategy that has tapped into the lucrative Asian and Asian-American spending power. Speakers included Daphne Kwok, vice president of multicultural leadership, Asian American & Pacific Islander audience strategy at AARP, Jeff Lin, co-founder of Admerasia, Niharika Shah, vice president of global marketing communications at Prudential, Ada Lien, senior vice president of marketing at La Mer, Emad Bibawi, risk consulting partner and advisory office leader at KPMG, and Katy Chen, director of global sales strategy at Tiffany & Company.

The day was capped off by the 9th Annual Best Employer Awards Dinner, which recognized companies empowering Asian talent.

On the second day of the Corporate Insights Summit Josette Sheeran, Lulu & Anthony Wang president and CEO of Asia Society, Priya Dogra, senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions at WarnerMedia, and Ramy Inocencio, Bloomberg Television anchor and forum emcee, kicked off the Diversity Leadership Forum with opening remarks.

Uber Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Bo Young Lee gave the day’s keynote lecture, discussing her own experiences in the past navigating the corporate world as an Asian American woman, as well as the work she is currently doing at the ride-sharing company. Following the keynote, attendees participated in several breakout sessions for more candid and focused discussions on diversity subjects like recognizing unconscious bias, creating workplace culture to enable the advancement of Asian women, using cultural competency to grow U.S. market share, increasing impact through business resource groups, and showcasing strategic initiatives that have proven to attract and retain Asian talent.

The day concluded with a final panel on how leadership on the subject of diversity plays an important role in driving innovation. Panelists included Janet Pien Roller, senior director of CX innovation at Marriott International, Umran Beba, global diversity engagement and talent officer at PepsiCo, and Ann Anaya, chief diversity officer of human resources at 3M.